In the spirit of Le Tour, Harrogate Grammar School are raising money for the school charity by cycling stage one, offering students a Super Learning Day off-timetable to experience Le Tour-related activities and are offering their facilities for the weekend to the community and beyond.
It isn’t often that you can participate in one of the great cathedrals of elite sporting achievement, so when the opportunity to ride a stage of this year’s Tour de France with 1500 other cyclists presented itself, 10 members of staff from Harrogate Grammar School took up the challenge in order to raise money for this year’s school charity, MENCAFEP.
Riding the route of stage 1 from Leeds to Harrogate took the team across 122 miles / 200km of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales including 7800ft / 2400m of climbing going up Cray, Buttertubs and Grinton Moor among what seemed like an endless array of hills. A mechanical incident with a wheel collapsing meant one DNF but the others struggled on some with failing gears – the fast boys finishing in under seven and a half hours, with the rest of the team closer to ten hours having the joy of coming in under a heavy cloudburst to have an early, albeit cold and unwelcome shower!
All proceeds raised from donations go to the MENCAFEP – Trincomalee Centre, supporting disabled children and their families in Sri Lanka. Please contact 01423 531127 if you would like to contribute.
Thanks have been given to all the staff that rode; Gordon Tweedle, Martin Wilson, Steve Howell, Chris MacDonald, David Allen, Nik Mason, John Henney, Adrian Stipetic, Andy Brown and Richard Sheriff.
Following on from this on Thursday 17th July the formal timetable will be suspended and all students will be participating in Tour de France themed activities. Students will work across year groups and faculties in order to successfully complete three challenging activities. Some students will have the opportunity to be taught by professional cycle coaches from British Cycling where they will be given advice, tips and guidance on riding bikes. Others will produce energy bars, smoothies or crepes with a tasty European theme. Some students will investigate the use of drugs in cycling, the physiology of cycling or first aid for cyclists, whilst others will be given the task of creating a moving sculpture using spare bike parts. It will hopefully be an exciting and varied day for both students and staff.
Harrogate Grammar School is also delighted to offer facilities to the town on the exciting Saturday of Le Tour. Car, bicycle and motorhome parking are all available alongside a freshly-cooked delicious breakfast from their award winning chef. Big screens, refreshments and changing facilities are also available all day for those wishing to watch the race unfold or ride some of the route, booking is via Harrogate Grammar School website.
Main photograph: Harrogate Grammar School staff – Gordon Tweedle, Martin Wilson, Steve Howell, Chris MacDonald, David Allen, Nik Mason, John Henney, Adrian Stipetic, Andy Brown
